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Sunday, November 24, 2013

White Cotton Alma

Here she is, my first Alma. Never mind that it took me 5 weeks to sew her. Never mind that she's not perfect like she looked in my head. She's finished and that's all that matters.

I bought this pattern with the intention of pairing it with some light weight cottons for some spring/summer tops. I liked the idea of having some light coloured tops to pair with darker skirts and shorts for maximum wearability. This particular fabric wanted to be made into an Alma first. Mostly because I had this idea of a super light white top I could wear on those stinking hot summer days.

I washed a whole lot of my cotton fabrics in one weekend but it wasn't until I ironed this one that I noticed just how heavy the embroidery makes the fabric. It worried me to add a Peter Pan collar to that as well as a gathered sleeve plus a lightweight cotton lining. So much bulk, was it going to work out?

Since I was too impatient to make a muslin I figured I'd just barrel on with this fabric and call it a wearable muslin if it didn't turn out properly. And a wearable muslin it became.

It doesn't look too bad once it's on. I know this pattern needs an SBA before I use it again but I do like that it came out big enough for me to put it over my head without an invisible zipper. I quite like having it a little roomy so it's not too hot in summer.

The collar is quite bulky which is noticable when you get up close (or if you happen to be the one wearing it) but I like the top enough for that not to bother me.

What I do love is how neat the innards are. This is the second time sewing up a Sewaholic Pattern and both of them have been dreamy to sew. In fact I've just cut out my fabric for my first Cambie (get excited!) after making not one but two muslins. See I do make muslins sometimes.

You might be able to see in this above picture that I lined it with lightweight cotton so there was no need for a facing. However I did topstitch these two layers together underneath the collar just so it wouldn't move around on me. I even lined the sleeves just so it was even all over instead of having sheer sleeves. Not that it would have mattered too much but it's the little things right?

I also opted to use bias binding on the hem instead of just a regular hem because it would have been really bulky to fold both layers up and then again before stitching it. I really didn't want to deal with that bulk around my hips.

So there you have it. Despite it needing improvements I do love the top and it's such a great basic I'll still be wearing it a lot. I look forward to playing around with an SBA on such a simple design for the first time. It should give me enough confidence to do this on all my patterns in the future. Stay tuned because there will be a lot more Alma's coming into my wardrobe before summer ends.